Two foreign nationals have gone on trial in Cork charged with handling more than £400,000 knowing the money was the proceeds of crime. It is the first trial of its kind held in a court in Ireland under money-laundering legislation.
Ms Maria Bernadetta Jehle, who is Swiss, and Mr Ernest Walter Hollman, a German, both with an address at The Priory, Ballymore, Cobh, Co Cork, have pleaded not guilty to the charges, brought under the 1994 Criminal Justice Act.
The trial before Judge Patrick Moran in the Cork Circuit Criminal Court is expected to last two to three weeks, with over 30 witnesses coming from both Ireland and the Continent, including two magistrates.
Ms Jehle is charged that on a date between May 31st, 1996, and May 17th, 1997, in Co Tipperary, she handled DM500,000 (£210,000) knowing the money came from criminal activities and also that on May 16th, 1997, at Main Street, Midleton, she handled £80,000 knowing it to be the proceeds of criminal activities.
Mr Hollman faces two charges of handling DM250,000 (£105,000) between July 1996 and October 1997 and handling £25,000 on similar dates knowing the money to be the proceeds of criminal activities.